Ever After
by Betsybelle
Summary: It appears that Belle and Gold will not get their happily ever after...or will they?


Gold looked down, puzzled. His hand was over his heart, fingers spread apart, and between them flowed a warm, red fluid. Blood. His blood. So he was not a monster after all, just a man….a man who after hundreds of years, was finally facing what all men eventually faced. He was dying. Yes, he could sense that commotion still going on around him; he could hear the sirens of the ambulances, hear the noises people generally made when something tragic had happened – the noises of people trying to save a life. He knew it was useless; he could already feel his life slipping away, already sense that his lifeblood was ebbing away at an increasingly rapid pace. He could still hear, but not so well as before; he could still see, but not so well as before.

"Rumple…". It was Belle – thank god he could still hear her voice. His beautiful, beautiful Belle…. He reached out his hand, desperate to touch her, to feel her. In her presence, he couldn't be scared because the only thing he ever felt around her was love. That's what he wanted now – love, her love, to take into eternity with him.

Belle took her beloved Rumple's hand in her own, still in shock at what was happening. His hand was bloody – she saw that as a fact. What it meant emotionally hadn't hit her yet; she refused to believe that the only man she had ever loved, the father of her children, was dying. She could see he was trying to speak, but she placed her fingers on his lips. "Don't strain yourself, my love…save your energy. You're going to be fine." Yet, tears were welling in her eyes, betraying her very words.

Gold shook his head gently. He had to make Belle understand, had to make her grasp the truth; she had always wanted honesty from him and now, at the most critical point of their lives, he was the one who was going to insist on it.

"Belle….no, let me speak, angel." To the extent that he still could, he squeezed her hand. "There are things I have to say now …..yes now, my love, because if not now, then when? Please don't deny me this…" Tears trickled down his cheek as he gazed upon the woman he'd loved for so long. "Where's Bae?"

Taking a deep breath, Belle spoke very slowly - the only way she could get the words out of her mouth without completely collapsing. "He's over there, by the….shop". Belle looked over, seeing Bae hunched over in agony. Yet, his arms were around his younger twin siblings, comforting and shielding them. "Isabelle and Albert are also there….."

Gold looked relieved. "I'm glad they're together; they're going to need each other to lean on….. Belle, they're going to need YOU."

"Rumple…don't." Belle couldn't hold the tears back any longer and they came in torrents, flooding down her face and onto Rumple's weakening body.

"Belle, we don't have much time left together….no, you know that it's true. Please tell me you understand that….please" Gold's voice was a whisper and now it was choked with tears. He was not scared to die, but he was scared of leaving Belle, of never seeing or feeling her again….and he was scared to think of her spending the rest of her life alone, with no one to love her like she deserved to be loved.

Belle was tired of trying to pretend and she also knew she couldn't be selfish enough to deny Rumple's request.

"I understand….." She could barely speak. "I understand, but I don't want you to go. I love you, Rumple…don't die, please don't die." Belle knelt down and placed her head on chest. For a few minutes at least, the blood had stopped flowing.

Gold placed his hands on Belle's hair and closed his eyes. He could still smell her scent…..that beautiful lavender scent that trailed her wherever she went. " I love you, Belle…I always have and just know that wherever I am, I will always love you; I promise you that will not die with me.". He took a deep breath and continued. "I want you to find happiness, Belle….I want you to find love again. You have so much to give …" Now his voice trailed away as it grew increasingly hard to speak.

"No, Rumple, no. We promised each other forever and we don't break deals." Belle lifted her head now to look at his beautiful face. Was she dreaming it or was his face changing, becoming younger almost and less lined? "I won't promise you something when I know I can't keep it". She wondered now what he was thinking.

In his mind's eye, Gold's memories of Belle were replaying on a constant loop: their first meeting, her falling into his arms, his giving her the rose, their reunion in the shop, their first kiss…..their first time making love, every time they made love. The feeling he had when she told him she was carrying his children. The birth of the twins. There were so many memories, but now he just wanted to feel her love, feel her hold him and touch him and kiss him. He so desperately needed that now.

"Belle….." He placed his blood-stained hand on the back of her head and pushed her gently towards him. "Kiss me one last time, my love….". The tears were flowing now.

Belle was collapsing internally, but she lowered her face to his and placed her lips gently on his, loving their familiar feel and taste. They moved softly together, a slow dance more than a kiss, and they lingered together, only pulling away when Gold's face shifted suddenly to the side. He was having a hard time staying conscious now. He sighed and, to Belle's eyes, he absolutely looked younger…somehow at peace.

"It's time now, Belle…Belle. The most beautiful word in the world. Take care of Isabelle and Albert and make sure Bae is ok...I will always love you". Gold's eyes closed and he sighed again.

Belle placed her head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat gradually diminishing. She would not leave him now, not ever. " Rumple, I will go with you forever…..we will be together again." Finally Belle heard nothing…and she just stayed there, letting the tears flow over his body.

***Belle looked at her surroundings….and saw nothing. That didn't dissuade her, however, as she had all eternity now….and if it took her that long to find him, she would. She knew in her heart that it wouldn't, though. Rumple was here, he was looking for her, calling out for her – she felt it in her heart and in her soul. Instinctively she moved in his direction, feeling the tug of his love.

Something had changed….and Rumple knew it immediately. He looked up and saw nothing, looked around and saw nothing, but he felt everything. Pain. Sorrow. Belle had died and it filled him with immense grief. How he wished he could have been there for her all these years, by her side, raising their children, but he was so proud of her. She lived a long and productive life, filled with good works, friends and family. She had not re-married, however, nor had she even had a single thought about another man. Belle had remained devoted to their love and his memory, just as he had been so long ago when he thought she'd died. The cup remained in a special place in their bedroom and she talked to it as she would have talked to him – again, as he once had done. Their little book club remained. Every month Belle would read a book and, upon completion, write down her thoughts and file it away in the special drawer that she had reserved. Rumple would love it that she was still reading and criticizing, evaluating; he had always respected her intelligence and hoped she would put it too good use. From above, Rumple could see that she was a wonderful mother to their children. Having lost all of Bae's childhood and then Albert and Isabelle's entire lives was almost too much for him to bear. It made him feel good, he had to admit, that they remembered him, they remembered the papa who had loved them so. All he had ever wished for them was that they live happy and fulfilling lives and it appeared that they had done so, with families of their own. Grandchildren….. Rumple shook his head and smiled; he and Belle had grandchildren…..and yet he would never get to hold them, to call them by name, to spoil them, to….

"Hey…."

Belle… that was Belle's beautiful voice calling to him; he hadn't heard that in so long, so very long. Rumple no longer had to use the cane and he was able to run to her as he'd never been able to in life. He was finally going to get to hold her again, to feel her in his arms, to kiss her – oh how he had missed Belle so desperately. He had been right all those years ago- his love for her not only never died, but it had only grown immeasurably.

The distance between them closed rapidly as Belle was also running towards him. She had missed her Rumple so desperately ; the years without him were not easy. She had the children of course, but they needed their father and missed his influence. For herself, life without the man she had loved for so long was agony. She missed his embrace, the way he stroked her face, the way he looked at her when she was naked, the way he allowed her to massage his damaged leg, the way he kissed her….held her hands, discussed world events with her. She missed being loved in the way that only Rumple could love her…..and here he was again, in front of her

"Hey…." That was his beautiful voice throaty and horse, as it always was when he spoke to her. Rumple was standing there with his arms wide open and Belle ran into them, wrapping her arms around him and refusing to ever let go.

They were both crying now. Rumple ran his hands through Belle's thick auburn mane; he smelled it – that lavender scent again. He ran his hands over her face, up and down her body.

"Belle…..my beautiful Belle. How I've missed you so…." He leaned in and, as she tilted her head upwards, placed his lips on hers. The sweetness of the kiss, the touch of her lips, the warmth…..it had been years since he'd experienced these things. Oh Belle…oh god, he loved her so.

When they finally separated, neither one could speak , so overwhelmed were they. Bell ran her hands over his shoulders, over his chest…..he was so strong, so sure; she had missed having him in her bed or otherwise just beside her when she was having a rough patch.

Now they just stood gazing at each other, drinking each other in. For Belle, there seemed only one perfect thing to say. Taking his hands in hers and kissing them, she said softly, but firmly: "I will go with you forever".

Rumple squeezed her hands. "Forever starts now, my love, by Belle….." They walked hand in hand now into the distance until they faded away.


End file.
